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Bakur ascended the stairs and found Kiph in the corner looking quite concerned. The woman was slumped next to him, still breathing and therefore not dead. The swordsman grinned. "Good, kept one alive," he said, walking over toward the body and Kiph. "One of those bastards got away, but she can tell us where he gone." Bakur glanced at Kiph. "Nice jacket," he commented. He read over the Fatebringer's shoulder at the paper and furrowed his brow. "Who are these people? What did you do to piss them off?" He glanced at the woman. She didn't seem anything special. If not for those glowing...

Bakur paused. "Hey, what happened to the glowy things?" he asked aloud. They must not have been on the woman, they were easy to spot a hundred yards away before. Did Badblood steal them? Bakur wouldn't put it past him. He resisted the urge to grab one of his wrenches. Don't get excited, he cautioned himself. That wouldn't be good for anybody right now.

"It is the new project, Ceres. It... It is wonderful and in the greater context of things I matter little. As a matter of fact I haven't spoken to anyone outside the Faculty since the last time we spoke". Jonathan smiled, his eyes weary but genuinely appreciative of the big woman. "You know I am forbidden to speak of it, but I can say this one thing: Not everything was lost when the City of Light was eradicated"

Giving Ralkhara an annoyed stare, the rude guard turned his back on the nomad and with a snort he stomped out of the room. The doctors were in deep conversation and had apparently forgotten about the young scout.

*****************

In the streets, outside Ye Donor Shoppe and Bargain ImplantsAn hour before nightfallCarrying Tiphala effortlessly on his shoulder, Bakur reflected over the evasive answers Kiph had given him. The woman had actually lost her pants when they went down the stairs, revealing panties that were only half pulled up. The giant had to put her clothes properly back on, and while they walked through the windy rain he had his doubts about the stealthy nomad and the disappearence of certain glowing pieces of equipment. The two had been bickering for a while when they passed the creaky aluminium doorsign which had been tagged with luminescent green text:

(OOC: You guys can't actually read this, but you know all to well what it says. The text is at the receiving end of many jokes about Damien and his "noble" intentions)

Kiph had still not removed the nightvision goggles and had only spoken in monosyllables since they left the windmill. Adjusting Tiphala to distribute her weight more evenly, Bakur looked at the aluminum sign. Rain ran in rivulets down the battered plate and as always Bakur smirked at the notion of "Sir" being applied to Surgical Damien.

There was a boom from far, far away. Shortly thereafter a staggering gust of wind threw both Kiph and Bakur on their backs. Looking up Bakur noticed a flaming trail in the skies, drawing ever closer.

**********************

Meanwhile, Back at the FacultyAs Ceres showed the artifact to Jonathan he gasped and then rubbed his hands vigorously. "Ceres, I think you finally hit the big time! Why, the Warden is going to reward you with more ammunition than you could ever dream about! Perhaps even he will be generous enough not to hand it from the muzzle of his gun!" Jonathan chuckled and winked at Ceres whose doubts were displayed all across her face.

There was a loud, distant boom and Ralkhara, Jonathan and Ceres suddenly found themselves in utter darkness.

Ralkhara weighted the pumpkin in his hand as the rude guard sniffed and shuffled away - Absently, he wondered if the guard would have the nerve to do anything if Ralkhara threw the fruit at his retreating form.Sighing inwardly, Ralkhara rested the pumpkin on the ground and looked around the room boredly. Ceres was the talkative one; Ralkhara only did it when he had something of use to say, and right now, he didn't. Well, perhaps he would have a look around the Faculty, should the good doctor allow it. Ralkhara just opened his mouth to interrupt and ask if he could explore, when *Boom!* an ominous sound echoed throughout the walls of the Faculty. Half a second later, the lights flickered weakly, then winked out altogether.

Confused, but more than determined to get to the bottom of the power-outtage, Ralkhara tapped the arm of his giant companion and leaned up to speak softly to her ear, "Watch the artifact. I'll check this out." Slipping out of the room, Ralkhara made his way back to the entrance and stepped out of the Faculty, peering along the street for anything out of the ordinary and listening both for more 'booming', and listening for any conversations which people may be having regarding it.

<<Gee, I suppose a gather info/spot/listen check? Ralkhara is standing on the street just outside the Faculty, looking for any signs of the source of da boom!>>

Not even their eyes were seen glinting as darkness crept out of all the corners it had been hiding in and swapped over them like a tidal wave. Ralkhara rushed out, leaving Ceres and the professor to contemplate darkness alone."Why can't I shake the feeling that this was no accident?" she whispered to the still baffled Jonathan. "Stay close, and if anything threatening happens, either hide behind me or duck" she reminded him, while she took a swift look out of the door, returning to guard their treasure soon after.

Its presence more felt than seen, the heavy relic rested in the midst of the room, ominous as ever. "What is it, anyway? I do the wetware, no idea about what hardware is about - all I know is that things bearing the Radiation symbol were used for power and as weapons, and for many other tasks, medicine being one. So what exactly do we got here?"

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

In the courtyard outside the FacultyRalkhara did not know it, but he missed the entrance to the front side and instead he went in another door that had been left ajar. Nevertheless he found his way outside; into the walled garden the Faculty staff had dubbed "Eden". An orchard full of albino birches and dark oaks met him, the waist high dark green grass swaying in the wind. There was another boom, this one much closer and a blinding light suddenly illuminated the garden, drawing the scout's gaze skyward. Nightfall was approaching and the sky was in flames.

Outside "Ye Donor Shoppe and Bargain Implants"Kiph had only gotten to his knees, groggily shaking his head, when there was another explosion in the sky. Bakur, whose eyes were already turned skyward, noticed a huge explosion from the spear point of the flaming trail, and for a second he thought he saw the huge brown outline of something in pursuit of the fiery spear.

All around him men, women and children were emerging from their shelter, fingers pointed skywards and the small ones crying fearfully. The flaming trail was plummeting fast now, and in a minute or less it would fall in, or just outside, the city.

We need to find shelter Bakur thought, mirroring the thoughts that went through the head of a nomad scout half a kilometer away.

**************************Inside the Faculty, Jonathan Meyer's Private QuartersSomewhat distracted by the running footsteps of the guards in the corridor outside, Jonathan patted Ceres on the shoulder. "No, it is not a weapon, nor a tool of war or medicine" he said quietly. Feeling his way towards the ancient contraption, he slid open the panel, a soft orange light emanating from it. "Hah, do you see? Not even the EMP discharge we just experienced could knock it out!" he said triumphantly, then quickly added: "By EMP I mean the explosion that caused our electrical systems to fail". Jonathan reached for Ceres' right sleeve and tugged softly, urging her to come forward. "I cannot be sure, but if this is what I think it is, it is what made the ancients fall. It is what they warred about. But... I cannot be sure. You must let me study it, Ceres, and I will have an answer within a month. I promise!"

There was another explosion, quickly followed by even more running footsteps and shouting voices. "My friend" Jonathan started, "I think it is time we find our way out of here".

In the garden, the nomad peered upwards in awe and fear.*Boom!* In the recesses of his mind, Ralkhara thought he heard the screaming of half a dozen children echoing the explosion. Ralkharas heart raced, but he quickly shook his head and fled back inside, making his way back through the darkened Faculty. It took him some time to find Jonathan Meyer's quarters. "It's bad..." His gaze flickered to the good doctor, "How secure is the Faculty?" He glanced at the opened orange panel on the artifact, frowned, then turned to Ceres, "If this place cannot hold, we should get back to South Wall and get below into our storage."Ralkhara grimaced - The sky was ablaze, and the sound of explosions a dozens of times greater than what his grenades were capable of reverberated through the town... The nomad spared a sympathetic thought for Nomad Town - they had little more than tents and quickly erected huts. While Ralkhara no longer walked amongst the nomads, he still believed himself a part of them.

Jonathan blinked, hesitated for a moment, then he whispered, his voice strained: "Bad you say? The Faculty does have a high security basement, but that is off limits. If we need shelter it will take us several minutes to get to the storage facility, but there are tunnels that honeycomb the rockbed of the city. By decree of the Warden, these are secret, but I know one that will take us to the bottommost floor of the storage facility. If there is war in the streets, the tunnels probably ain't compromised".

(OOC: Jonathan and Ceres doesn't have a clue what is going on outside, hence the reference to "war in the streets". If you want, you can start running down the tunnels, led by Jonathan. There are trolleys that can be used for the artifact, should you desire to bring it along)

Kiph lay still for a few seconds, wiping dust from his green-eyed goggles. After momentarily looking toward Bakur, the nomad finally decided to rise, and did just that, scrambling toward Damien's.

"Wh-what the @!#$ was that, Bakur?" Kiph shrieked. He was already feeling "reedy" after finding his portrait on that woman, now he was full blown panicked.

For a moment, Kiph stared into descending ball of flame in awe. As it neared, he realized that a good chunk of Bleakwood was about to be effected in a BIG way.

"In here, in here.", Kiph frantically gestured to Bakur. "The woman, and err-you too, get her in here...HERE!!" Kiph shouted over the screaming voices in his head.

"If they give us trouble in there--" Kiph left the last part unsaid. He watched as the huge warrior rose to one knee, Tiphala still effortlessly flapping over his massive shoulder.

"Eh Bakkur, after that ball of fire touches down, you wanna go looting?"

Kiph wasnt sure if Bakur heard that last part. Instead he moved to open the door of the establishment.

Waiting for Bakur to walk through, Kiph glanced once more at the s**tstorm erupting in the air around Bleakwood. Somewhere far off, he heard a weird unrecognizable emergency signal. Whatever had happened, Kiph thought, he bet the spacers were involved.

"Move, Bakur, move!" he nudged the immovable giant, and ushered the pair of them and the unconcious woman inside, removing his goggles, and hoping that Damien hadnt remembered the last time Kiph had visited him....that hadnt gone well.

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.

Blood plasma bags hung on racks, hypos and scalpels on metallic tables and a veritable jungle of mechanized surgical equipment met Bakur as the hulking man ran inside. A hatch had been opened to the cellar and from that hatch light flooded into the darkened room, the machines dead from the power failure. A young woman Bakur had often seen at the market laid on a table, her chest cracked open, scissors left in the open wound. Behind her was the spiralling metal staircase that led up to Damien's private quarters.

From the cellar the familiar voice of Damien could be heard, uttering a stern command.

"Force it open!"

"Uuuhhhng... It is stuck milord!" a gruff voice replied, no doubt the fat manservant he always kept around.

"Then step aside and we'll see if the Warden's lock can resist a shotgun slug"

The woman whimpered and from the streets came more screams. Something was happening outside, but this time there was no booming sound.

"Well then, let us leave these threatened premises and head downwards - I certainly am more interested in staying alive than taking part in whatever fun is going on out there, though I may regret it later!"Ceres closed the blinking panel on their loot, and heaved it to the trolley. "I guess we take this along - you'll have more than enough time to educate us once we're in safety, Jon." After that, she saw to Ralkhara: "If you can, grab a flashlight and a canister of water - we don't know how long we'll stay down there. There should be one around!"

The darkness was filled with a clamor of confused voices, lost as if wandering the starry void above, the world so strange without the solace and familiarity of light. Slowly, the band made progress to the hidden door, Jonathan leaning against Ceres, their prize covered up on the trolley.

« Last Edit: January 09, 2007, 05:54:26 PM by EchoMirage »

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

Having pushed Bakur inside, the lithe nomad entered the building. Scanning the room he noticed the woman left alone during mid-surgery, but it was a metallic safe door, just behind a table that had been pulled out, that really caught his attention. Obviously Damien was retreating to safety, and he brought his easily carried valuables with him. There was a cooling chamber in the back, where Damien stored organs and most of his blood stores, but they would spoil quickly in the wasteland heat.

(OOC: Most of the stash in the small safe has been grabbed by Damien, but there is still a key ring, 2 x 5.56 NATO rounds (fallen out of a box no doubt) and a leather pouch with 20 grams of spirit weed* left. The safe is on floor level and one has to crouch to get the goodies)

* Spirit weed is an equivalent to Marijuana

*****************************

In the FacultyRalkhara, Jonathan and Ceres made their way down the corridors, feeling the walls and talking nervously to make sure they all went the same way. After what seemed like a small eternity, there was a click and a door was shoved open. "This is it, enter here" Jonathan said.

There was moisture in here, that was for sure, and after carrying the trolley down some stairs, they felt water on the floor. It was no more than an inch of water, so it would not hinder them significantly.

**********************

(OOC: Universal knowledge (both locations are in sync and it is between 10-30 seconds until estimated impact (Ralkhara, Bakur and Kiph knows this)).

Before entering the small passageway which Jonathan had led them to, Ralkhara had managed to snag a couple of trinkets from the Faculty - A flashlight - and a couple compatible batteries, one two-litre canister of water, and he even managed to pluck a plain chisel from a bench which someone had left carelessly lying around, which he pocketted.

It wasn't until the trio was down the flight of stairs that the nomad had managed to put those batteries in - he could never get those things in the right way round! - and, after tapping the back of the device against the palm of his hand, it flickered weakly into life. Now safely down the tunnel and making their way along it, the man enlightened the others of the situation - detailing the trail of fire across the sky and the ominous danger it suggested. He also urged the group to move more quickly, as there wasn't much time before it hit. Ralkhara winced - the moisture down here made his knee twinge, but he carried on - some things were more important than rubbing a sore knee.

As an afterthought, Ralkhara pulled out his two "Fossil, Inc - Wrist PDA mk III's" and handed one to Ceres, "Use this - it will keep track of how long we've been down here, and help out if we get separated." The scout attached one wrist PDA to his own left arm.

Kiph took it all in, shuddering briefly at the hanging hypos and other items of "torture"...any tool used on a human body was considered an instrument of torture to the heavily scarred nomad.

He stared at the woman on the table, and despite it all his eyes lingered. Her chest cavity was splayed out on the table before him, and she was whimpering...softly.

Kiph began to get the "urge" again. The woman's whimpering was beginning to turn him on.

But there was no time for that. Not now. Something BAD was about to happen to them, Kiph thought. He ran and slid towards the safe, scooping out its contents haphazardly, once again stuffing the pockets of his new jean jacket with the items, not the least of which was the spirit weed, which his old master swore by.

What was going on here? Kiph thought suddenly. He began to squirm as he looked around again.

Damien, the hatch, the unfinished operation, the commotion outside....Damien was getting the @!#$ out of here....why?..or was he?

The anxious nomad looked once more at Bakur. The intellectually-challenged giant was breathing heavily and looking around himself. Nope, no help there, Kiph thought.

Suddenly, Kiph realized that if he did not make some sort of decision on a course of action...Bakur and him would be screwed.....or worse.

The problem for Kiph, was deciding where it was safer...inside...or out. He chose "in", and made his way over to the hatch, peering below, hoping to see if Damien had succeeded in opening the Warden's Lock.

As he stared below, he got an impending sense of urgency...something BAD was happening, he thought again, summarizing his situation succintly.

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.

Bakur's brow furrowed. He had a major problem trusting Kiph at the moment. But then, he also was probably about to have a major problem living before long. Whatever happened in the sky surely meant something terrible. Spacers, perhaps, or an omen from the Steel-King - or perhaps both. "Hurf," he grunted in reply, dropping the unconscious women onto the ground and moving toward Kiph. At least Badblood wouldn't lead him into something that would get them killed. After all, the nomad surely wanted to survive as well. Bakur pulled the wrenches from his belt and gripped them tightly, ready for action.

There was a loud crack from the cellar as Damien fired upon the lock. Mere moments thereafter a piercing, droning sound rapidly grew in intensity, and in response the shrieks and desperate cries from outside increased in intensity. Kiph could not help but to wonder when this would all lead to some kind of horrible crescendo, but his morbid musings was quickly abandoned, for a tremendous quake shook him off his feet. Then it came, a jarring roar, an infernal crashing sound. It was easily the loudest sound Kiph had ever heard. It reminded him of stories he knew by heart, even though he had no idea how he knew them. In those stories the blazing armies of hell were marshalling at the gates of the city, and all hope was lost. Yet a desperate band of survivors struggled on, and in spite of the odds, they escaped the wickedness of the Great War.

Bits of the ceiling began falling down and the ground shook even more, for the trembling did not stop. Curiously there was no sound, even though more and more bits of the building came crashing down. Peeking down he noticed that the cellar was empty. Damien must have made his way through the door, for it was now open.

*****************

Bakur screamed, yet he heard no sound. Looking down at Kiph he noticed blood running from the ears of the nomad. Panicking he glanced out a window, and what he saw terrified him. In the center of town there was a tremendous explosion and with frightening high speed, a huge ball of fire was plowing its way through the city bearing straight down on their position.

*****************

The impact caused everyone to lose their footsteps and even the artifact jarringly crashed onto the floor. Sprawling on the floor, Ceres cursed loudly, but her words could not be heard over the infernal noise that never seemed to end.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of horror, the noise grew weaker and the trembling diminished in intesity. Still lying in the water, Ralkhara looked at Ceres and Jonathan. Mortar had come loose and stones had dropped from the ceiling. The flashlight still worked, and Ralkhara waved it in different directions. There were cracks in the walls were there previously was none. Furthermore they all had a fine caking of white pulverized concrete in their hair and on their clothes, except those parts that were under water. Somehow they had survived, but they felt like someone had beaten them senseless.

(OOC: Bakur and Kiph are now deaf. If this is temporary or not you do not know. Your ears are bleeding. While the danger is over for Ralkhara and Ceres, your next actions (Bakur and Kiph) are of the essence)

Spitting mortar and concrete dust, Ceres shook her head. "You had these tunnels built well, I must admit. Let's just sit it out, and when it's over, then go out and see what can be done."

She lifted first Jon, then their prize up from the water, and placed both on a dry ledge at the side of the corridor. "It seems we have all the time of the world now, so - what was it with the City of Light? All I head that it was stripped bare of all, neither babe nor elder left as witness, and everything gone, down to the last screwdriver. You sure got me curious, and my silent comrade too..."

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

Panic began to overtake Bakur's senses. Pain, tremendous pain! And the murderous silence! He began to cough violently, dust and smoke filling his lungs. The blazing inferno outside was rapidly flying toward them. Like a cockroach when the lights go on, Bakur immidiately sought refuge under something, anything. There! The cellar! In silence, he grabbed Kiph from the ground and dragged him into the open cellar door.

Some moments passed, the scientist clearly in shock, struggling to speak or even make sense of it all. While Ralkhara squatted on the floor, waving the beam of light in every direction, Ceres helped Jonathan recover. Finally the scientist was coherent enough to reply to Ceres' question.

"Oh, the City of Light. Well, yes, is this the time for that? What happened? Are there any survivors? Oh well, I can see you are determined, Ceres" the prematurely aged doctor said, then coughed for a couple of seconds, white dust falling like snow from his head and shoulders as he did so.

"According to rumours, the City of Light simply vanished without a trace, or the people and equipment inside it did. This is a fallacity, an atrociously wrong recount of what has happened!" Jonathan spoke, his telling becoming more and more intense and focused by the second.

"The City of Light was bombed, Ceres, as in the days of the Great War. We received a courier from the city and they requested aid, for their predicament was dire indeed. Yet, in the end, the letter said nothing as to what or who the danger was, and the next report was from a sheperd family living some distance away from the city. Apparently there was a great, blinding light as the avatar of Radiatos himself, or what we call a bomb of the ancients here at the Faculty, was released over the city. Thousands must have died, and those that entered the area later grew sick and died. Believe me, I have seen the dead and dying looters, their bodies covered in sores, swollen lymph nodes and blackend patches of skin.All life was extinguished, Ceres. All"

Jonathan took a sip from a flask he carried in his belt, then spoke again.

"I have been there, Ceres. I have been there. In the center of the town an edifice had been erected. AFTER the city was bombed. I entered that edifice and tonight the spacers will come to purchase information. For we retrieved something from that building. Something they want badly!"

Ralkhara was shining his torchlight back and forth, studying the structure of the walls warily. After he finally concluded that the hall would hold - for now - Ralkhara dusted his hair and raised his hood. Avatar of Radiatos... Bomb of the Ancients... Ralkhara did not like how this sounded in the least. "And people who entered there later also died, you say..." Ralkhara spoke as he helped the man up. His gaze flickered back and forth down the two different directions. After some seconds considering, he nodded, "We should make our way through the tunnels to the storage facility - we have no way of knowing if there are any more explosions coming down here, and the facility is more secure than the faculty." The flashlight in Ralkhara's hand flickered weakly, and Ralkhara thumped it in his hand once more - the light shone brightly again. "If what you say is true, as soon as we know it is safe we should leave bleak wood, or we may suffer the same fate as those who entered the city of light after the explosions..."Ralkhara paused a moment as he registered what Jonathan had said, and he turned to stare at the aging man, his own expression hidden behind the bandages wrapping his face. "Faculty secrets? Do you not understand what just happened up there?" Ralkhara pointed a finger upwards, his voice strained, "There may not be a Faculty left. There may not be a warden anymore! And the information you insist on keeping from us due to formality, may just help us survive." Information was Ralkhara's business, and when some was denied him, he did not like it. The normally quiet nomad peered unblinkingly at the professor.

<<Mmm... I suppose a gather info/intimidate check or something? And then Ralkhara's vote is to keep wandering the tunnels>>

Kiph didnt realize he was deaf at first, in fact instead of silence, he heard an ironically deafening roar blaring in his ear drums...only then, after a few minutes, did silence reign.

Kiph lost it. As Bakur shoved him down and inside the cellar door, Kiph immediately jumped to his feet, drawing his machete, only to bobble, stagger and fall again.

"Bakur....BAKUR!!!..Bakur?" he stared dumbly trying to come to his senses again. Why wasnt the giant answering him. Kiph noticed the trickle of blood pouring down the behemoth's ears. He felt his own neck, and his blood was flowing too. His bad...blood...was.....flowing.

Kiph could not hear anything outside anymore, he could not hear anything at all, but he had still not come to the realization of the what exactly had happened.

Disoriented to the extreme, the nomad managed to rise again, and finally feeling a tinge of comraderie, made his way over to Bakur agian.

"Hey! Hey!!" Kiph screamed at the giant, and Bakur finally looked up, from his sitting position, glancing directly at Kiph, a bizarre look on his features.

"Bah!!" Kiph cursed and climbed back up to the entrance room of Damien's. His head began to pound again, no noise this time, just pain. He dared a glance out the window, and chaos greeted his gaze.

He watched as a father and child, blackened from soot, oblivious to their surroundings, searched the ground for an arm...the little boy's arm, which apparently had torn off during the explosion. Blood gushed from the boy's shoulder, and though the father had wrapped his own shirt around his son's mutilated appendage, the boy would soon die, Kiph knew.

He looked at the body of Tiphala. She wont be much use to Ceres now, he thought, an intense migraine headache, ravaging his brain the entire time. But Kiph was used to pain...

Turning, he next eyed the cooling room, where Damien kept his organs. Wordlessly Kiph ran inside the open door.

Several glass shelves and cabinets were shattered from the impact of the catastrophic explosion.

Kiph, stopped, and stared at one of the cooling canisters. He could read the label from where he stood.

"You have no heart, nomad. It must have been ripped from your scrawny chest, during your "bad times" How can you live without a heart?".

Kiph stood motionless now, oblivious of his surroundings, staring incessantly at the container lying before him, remembering Bakur's mocking words to him when they had first met. Kiph had shrieked and bumrushed Bakur in fury, that day, threatening to rip the big man's heart out in return. Bakur had calmly proceeded to beat the s**t out of Kiph that day, leaving him lying in a pool of his own blood from the beating.

You have no heart nomad, the thought kept repeating inside Kiph's head. All he could hear were his own thoughts. The silence around him was deafening.

Kiph bent down to pick up the cannister and returned, limping and staggering to the cellar. Bakur was still stunned, but had risen and was taking turns glancing outside, and down the passageway,the one which Damien and co. had opened to escape.

"Look Bakur, I have a heart now." Kiph spoke, holding up and showing the giant, the metal, cylindrical cannister. Bakur grimaced in confusion, not understanding the nomad's words.

Kiph removed a slimy, bloody lump from the container, unfrozen now, and leaking fluids. He raised the organ to his mouth and began chewing on it, standing directly in front of the giant.

"Look Bakur, I have a heart now, look!", Kiph smiled. The loss of hearing did not prevent Bakur from showing his revulsion and even dry heaving unseen vomit.

"Come", Kiph said again, not hearing his own reedy voice, "we need to go...now". He finished chewing and swallowed the heart, blood now covering his mouth. He pointed to the door which Damien went through.

Bakur hesitated, Kiph managed a smile..."Come, Bakur".

Kiph was beginning to let his madness take over. It always did during times of stress.

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.

What Kiph saw while above:The rain still fell, in spite of the disaster, nature not caring the least what had just transpired here. It was still dark, nightfall was approaching and the shadows had grown long. Kiph noticed the father open his mouth and pointing at him, but still no words came.

Whatever had transpired here, it had wrecked all the neighbouring buildings and damaged this one badly. The building still stood however, excepting one central support pillar who had collapsed, bringing some of the second floor with it. A voice of reason resounded in spite of the encroaching madness.

That was odd. This building stands, the next building does not.

Kiph did not see the father and son die horribly. He did not hear their shouted words of warning.

(OOC: Kiph is down again and did NOT notice anything bad. I just added the unknown information for your displeasure )

(OOC: Auto failure due to incorrect presumtions. Jonathan is definitely sure this was NOT a bomb. And: To keep the game moving I fast throttled your groups in the directions you stated. I know only Ralkhara cast his vote, but that is the price of being slow, Echo )

"No!" Jonathan stated flatly. "No... That is not it!"

Moving further down the tunnels he explained more thoroughly.

"This... quake... It was prolonged, lasting over 10 seconds. It is not like that with the bomb of the ancients. Whatever transpired here tonight, my guess is that Bleak Wood still stands, even though it might have suffered terribly. Part of me tells me I should head back to the faculty, but the other part..."

Jonathan looked at Ceres and sighed wearily once again. "It is good to see you again, Ceres. In spite of all of this, it is good to see you."

*******************

Later in the tunnelsKiph bowed down, making signs for Bakur to stop. The mutilated corpse of a fat man laid there, face down in the catacomb water. Bakur closed in to study what the nomad was looking at, his eyes squinting to see in the poorly lit tunnel section. Kneeling beside Kiph, the nomad turned the man around revealing a half eaten face and vicious lacerations on the abdomen, arms and legs. Whatever had killed the man had done so with savage brutality.

What the hell is going on?

Suddenly light shone in their eyes, but they could still not hear any sound. Someone was holding a flashlight at their faces, the light blinding Kiph and Bakur.

Ah, how I have come to love that sense of accomplishment and victory that I get when I pull the wool over the eyes of a clever player character. What DM Triumphs have you had?

Some of mine:1. Finally killing an incredibly powerful, lucky, annoying player's character.2. Finally achieving a TPK (Total Party Kill)3. Finally achieving a TPK using only traps4. Finally working out how to make it so that d**n wizard doesn't steal the spotlight all the d**n time.

"What did you two get yourself into?" Ceres eyed her two sooty comrades with a disapproving expression, and only then realized from their blank stares thay they did not hear a single word she said, ther eyes fixed at her lips without understanding following in tow.Bakur seemed less affected, with Kiph swaying like a birch tree in a storm. Little hypochondriac, drawing attention to himself like that. More likely was it Bakur who was too slow to drop, and forgot to open his mouth. She sure has never seen Kiph wander into harm's way, he was too dodgy for that. From looking at the dark giant, one could not esteem his condition though: Bakur would have shown the same pain at being scratched and run through with a pike.

"It looks like hiding's over, no more stars falling from the sky today?" she turned to Ralkhara and Jon. "Let's get those two wayward orphans somewhere cozy and look at what can be done, and then see what we can do for the rest of the town." She waved to Bakur and Kiph to follow, and, seeing the way the kid stumbled around, she grabbed his hand to keep him from falling, whether intentionally or not. Plus, as long as she held him, he couldn't go off and concoct any mischief. Right?

Once we're somewhere where she can actualy inspect their wounds, Ceres was going to do her best. Now? How she'd love to be simply able to lay on hands. And cure an ill. All ills, d**n it.

Logged

"Captain, the buttocks are moving from the pink into the red and purple spectrum! We cannot maintain this rate of spanking any longer!"

(OOC: In which direction is she going? There are three different to choose from)

Ralkhara couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard strange skittering noises from somewhere ahead, then the same noises occured again, this time from their rear. All of a sudden Jonathan, Ralkhara and Ceres all heard. From somewhere close came a hissing sound, like several snakes in unison, declaring their displeasure and hostile intent.